Turtle pond options...

[Conner]

Hey all, I'm planning on building a pond for my eastern spiny softshell turtle. Even though she's currently for sale, I want to be prepared in case she doesn't sell.

I am going to buy a pond liner and make a pond approximately 5' x 8' x 2-2.5' deep. This means about 600g.

I also have 4-5 shortnose gar that I'm trying to sell. If they don't sell, I don't have anywhere else to put them. Do you think it possible that they could coexist in the pond with the turtle? They're both native to this area, so I know they can survive the winter (I plan on having the pond heated enough not to melt, at the least). I just am hoping that they will be able to coexist peacefully in this large a pond.

What do you think?

 

[SimonL]

Gar are about the worst fish you can keep with turtles, they are slow, clumsy and spend much of the time hovering. I'd try more quick and nimble fish like bass, cichlids, barbs, perch, etc.

 

[Conner]

Will the size of the pond make any difference? I may go as large as 6'W x 13'L x 3'D.

The compatibility is only an issue as long as I have the turtle. She may be sold soon.

 

[Conner]

Started digging the pond this morning. It's going to be about 13'Lx 6'Wx 2-3'D (possibly deeper in the very center), with a shallower, .5-1' area coming off one ends side, kind of backwards L shaped. This shallow area will be sloped up from a deeper area, creating a ramp up to some open ground where the turtles can get out and bask. This little area will be fenced in to keep the turtles from wandering off too far. I'm taking pictures, and I'll make a quick sketch of what it should look like once its done as well.

Should be about 1500g when finished. I'm planning on having the softshell turtle, 4 shortnose gar, and maybe some other natives. Also thinking about possibly adding a few RES, Mud, or Musk turtles to the mix, as long as they're all native to this area. That way I don't have to worry about them surviving the winter.

 

[Toby_H]

Keep in mind...

The larger the body of water the longer it will retain heat...

The greater the surface area the faster the water will give up heat... which means the deeper the pond the more the water will retain heat...

Therefore the water temperature of your 1,500 gallon 2-3' deep pond will drop to a lower temperature overnight than the 1.5 million gallon pond with many 4'+ deep areas the turtles are native to...

I am not trying to say your turtles will not survive or even thrive in your pond... just offering food for thought...

 

[Conner]

I'll keep that in mind. The other turtles I add, if there's a problem with winter, I should be able to bring them in to other tanks in the house. The spiny softshell will bury herself.

I'm planning on making the center of the pond as deep as I can feasibly go. If I can get it down to 4', I will. Although, I might not be able to get that deep with the size of the pond. We'll see.

 

[Conner]

Initial pics (we're still digging, but its 90F out and sunny right now, so we're taking lots of breaks), plus pics of the turtle that started it all:

 

[Conner]

It's gonna be bigger than I thought. Probably 3' the entire length, with a 4' dip in the very middle, and that higher shelf on the side to help the turtle get out to bask...

I'm thinking this will be 1,800-2000g when I'm done . Quite a far cry from just burying the kiddie pool, like I had originally planned.

 

[Conner]

Here's some more pics. We ran into a sh*tload of roots, so that slowed things down considerably, but I think we did okay for 4 hours of work. It's about 6 feet wide, 13 feet long, and mostly down to 2 feet already. I'm going to dig the whole thing down to about 3 feet, and then dig a small bump in the middle down as close to 4 feet as I can get.

The little sweep to the side still needs to be dug into a stepped ramp, so that the turtles will have any easy time getting out of the pond to bask. The little area in between the two ends of the pond will be fenced in so that they don't wander off while basking.

My girlfriend remarked that it looks a lot like the Star Trek Federation symbol....

 

[takinap]

Looking great, if you ever need help digging, I will totally come out. I like helping on fish related projects. Im open all weekend btw. Cant wait to see it finished, may inspire me to pick up some natives, keep the pics coming.